 April 26, 2016 - 4:54am | A thread for thoughts on this planet & it's system & culture in my setting: Since I am making the original colonists Sect of the Gold Hand and Loyalists to the Crown: I will start with some ideas on that. Theocracy or Ecclesiocracy is a form of government in which a deity is considered the source from which all authority derives. The Oxford English Dictionary has this definition:
When religions have a "holy book," it is used as a direct message from God. Law proclaimed by the ruler is also considered a divine revelation, and hence the law of God. An ecclesiocracy, on the other hand, is a situation where the religious leaders assume a leading role in the state, but do not claim that they are instruments of divine revelation. The papacy in the Papal States occupied a middle ground between theocracy and ecclesiocracy, since the pope did not claim he was a prophet who received revelation from God and translated it into civil law. Religiously endorsed monarchies fall between these two poles, according to the relative strengths of the religious and political organs. Theocracy is distinguished from other, secular forms of government that have a state religion, or are influenced by theological or moral concepts, and monarchies held "By the Grace of God". In the most common usage of the term, some civil rulers are leaders of the dominant religion; the government proclaims it rules on behalf of God or a higher power, as specified by the local religion, and divine approval of government institutions and laws.
Okay I am thinking some sort of hybrid... maybe like Iran does things?
"Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
April 26, 2016 - 4:56am | Also Gollywog had a Dralasite Colony (small outpost) on it when colonists showed up, they attacked and killed the Dralasites. Thinking of making the royal family have a genetic characteristic unique to them. Golly-Berries come from Gollywog. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
April 26, 2016 - 11:10am | Clarions should all have one genetic trait in common... Clarions speak "Clarion" a human language/dialect that is very archaic compared to other colonies of humans, this is the "true language". Most Clarions not on Clarion also know Pan-Gal and in general mix the languages so they will speak Pan-Gal with unique Clarion words or phrases but will do the same when speaking Clarion dropping in Pan-Gal words or phrases especially when cussing, they have also began using more terms from other human tongues. But as a rule they use the "true language" Clarion and consider other languages profane. Symbol & words to consider: White Light, Golden Hand, Golden Throne, Clarion. Clarion: means loud and clear, and a clarion call is a call to something that is hard to ignore. A clarion is a medieval horn with a clear sound. Hard to ignore, but also pure and clear in tone. Possible general genetic trait ideas: Unique eye color, unique skin tone Royal Houses: Maybe something that is both a benefit and a flaw? Inherited only amonst a certain % of the Royals? "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
April 26, 2016 - 11:30am | Gollywog: Clarion was originally a Dralasite world named Gollywog, the out post colony is one of history's mysteries. The small out post/colony simply disappeared, referred to as the "lost colony" or "failed colony" by the Dralasites and historians of the Frontier. No one knows what happened to the settlers or their settlement and considerable debate exists as to where the colony was located on Clarion. Many theories exist as to what happened to the colony. Sathar (or other force such as Pirates, other aliens) attacked and destroyed it utterly (maybe taking survivors as captives) is currently the favored opinion by Clarions. Clarions insist they found no colony upon arrival in the White Light System. Some think the colonists abandoned Gollywog and moved elsewhere. Some think they died out from the effects of disease, starvation, failure to adapt, dangerous native life forms and not having a large enough surviving population to recover their losses from. A few people have also suggested the Clarion colonists may have attacked the outpost, committed genocide and then utterly destroyed any evidence of the Gollywog Outpost. When the Frontier Star Charts for the UPF where put together the Dralasite name for the planet became the name listed on UPF Star Maps, this has been a point of contention between the Human Clarions and the rest of the Frontier. Vrusks will generally back the Dralasites insisting it is logical, Dralasites found the planet first, and colonized it first so they should have naming rights, listing the system as White Light was an attempt at compromise, but the Clarions are not satisfied about this situation. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
April 26, 2016 - 12:06pm | Time Line Considerations:
<!--[if gte mso 9]> 4125
CE OTC: Ships with Golden Hand and Golden Imperial family civilian loyalists
flee known Human Space to an unknown location, it is rumored that some of the
passengers may in fact have been missing Imperial Family members, illegitimate
children of the Imperial lines and so on. (House) Some of these fleeing ships
refugees became the first human settlers on Gollywog AKA Clarion. (House)
<!--[if gte mso 9]> 60PF White Light system discovered by Humans. (Zebs) The Warriors of White Light: Humans centuries past colonized Clarion. As humans expanded from Thesus the White Light system became a major crossroads for human exploration. Current King Leotus XIX, has ruled 37 years, daughter is Crown Princess Leotia XX. Leotus line has held throne 400 years, always passing crown from parent to child. Okay: 400 years seems short as Space Humans average life span is 200 years. I think the writter of the module did not take that in account and the years should be much greater... most kings & queens do not abdicate but die in office. So based on just the Kings XIX ='s 19 rulers with that name (maybe not all the same line) x 200 years = 3,900 years of rulers at least. If Leotia's XX indicates there have been 20 rulers with that name than that is an additional 4000 years. Way longer than 400 years. One possibility is that the current ruler is really the third ruler of this line which would then be around 400 years, but the name of his has been used by other royal lines. I think all royal lines would try to go back to Imperial lines, names, important historic figure. So pre-4125 CE lineages would be cited. <!--EndFragment--><!--EndFragment--> "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
April 26, 2016 - 1:00pm | Old School Jumping: It took 1 month to calculate each jump. So travel through unexplored space would take longer. Maxium passanger/crew 2500. 1000 crew for an explorer type ship. Civilian and War ships would have been in the mix. There might have been an actual emergency Imperial Colony ship in the mix. These ships are huge capable of carring supplies... but also Jump distances what such a fleet would have been capable of slowest ship? Or do the fast ships leave the slow behind? At any rate it probably would have taken a while to get to White Light, many ships would have been lost: left broken down with their trapped refugees on board, destroyed or too badley damaged, conflicts with other powers. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 April 30, 2016 - 5:22am | Time Line Considerations: Current King Leotus XIX, has ruled 37 years, daughter is Crown Princess Leotia XX. Leotus line has held throne 400 years, always passing crown from parent to child. Okay: 400 years seems short as Space Humans average life span is 200 years. I think the writter of the module did not take that in account and the years should be much greater... most kings & queens do not abdicate but die in office. So based on just the Kings XIX ='s 19 rulers with that name (maybe not all the same line) x 200 years = 3,900 years of rulers at least. Ah, you could take into account things such as a Human's life span in the Frontier may have reached 200 years by the time the characters start playing, but maybe it was much shorter before then. Maybe it was only 100 years or 90 or 80 years until the medical technology caught up with whatever was back at home. Also, the Leotus/Leotia line may go back to the Human's homeworld -- which I say is Earth in my campaign. I think I have Leotus XI showing up in the Frontier one day, with his title and claiming to be of a long lineage of royalty going back to Earth's early days... but it is a sham. He's just some rich guy who heads out to the Frontier to make a new life and title for himself, with the ambitions of founding his own colony. I like the idea of the previous Dralasite colony that the early Humans in their xenocidal ways decided to wipe out. Joe Cabadas |
April 30, 2016 - 8:29am | I have been kicking the idea around that some folks did not live as long for awhile after colonizing Gollywog as you pointed out life expectancies may have been shortened, also if it took them a long time to get to Clarion and I have the new Imperial Family declared in flight then that could add time to the whole royal lines easily. In addition I am considering the idea of Dynasties i.e. other lines have ruled Clarion thus this line's 400 years is not as impressive as it sounds nor does it need to be changed and even the family name Leotus could be new... sort of how the House of Windsor came to be. Now I am thinking the name "Leotus/Leotia" is popular regardless of last name of dynasties, probably goes back to the first new dynasty in exile or even maybe to pre-exile times the actual first Imperial family which of course are near mythic. So every new dynasty ended up with a Leo in it when that new family came to power, either the new emperor/ess changed his/her name or the crown prince/princess is given that name. I was originally going to have captain of the colony ship set himself up as king, with the officers setting themselves up as nobles and have the civilians forced to accept the monarchy idea... but I am thinking of using this idea for another planet in the setting now. As I like the idea that Clarion was settled for a while by "loyalists" and originally the colony was in hiding, so no big desire for the original colonists to want to explore (be found) out side their own system. So I am thinking Clarion had only system ships when other humans find them, where as the other humans had the better tech, and since a lot of time had passed and the other humans where ignorant about the war that resulted in the exile, Clarion started desperately needed trade with other human colonies. Anyhow that is part of my fix for the differences in Time Lines... Clarion was an isolationist colony until their "discovery" in 60PF. I am thinking the Clarion colony had a lot to gain from trade when it was found, and the opportunity for new technology, new medical advances and drugs, new plants and animals, new crops trumped their isolationist tendencies. But it also opened them up to dealing with other human colonies with rather odd uncivilized ideas about everything from their perspective (even dangerous radicle ideas), and then them dealing with alien cultures... I am thinking most Clarions believe their cultural ways are superior: more "civilized" I think the first human colonists on Gollywog may have been willing to commit genocide because they where desperate, had probably became willing to prey on weaker beings to survive (aha space pirates), had probably had more than one bad run in with unknown aliens in transit, possibly they believed the non-human subjects of the old Empire had betrayed the human rulers and contaminated the human populace with false teachings as well. So I think the mind set of the first humans on Clarion was xenophobic at that moment in time, however the modern Clarion attitude maybe very more relaxed. What is recorded in their history may not even indicate Dralasites where present, that could have been sealed information by a ruler or the church for some reason prior to any contact with aliens latter, in short the modern citizen would not know and after friendly relations are established with Dralasites the mystery of the Gollywog colony baffles even Human Clarions who believe nothing/no one was there when their ancestors landed.Some might even claim Gollywog can not be Clarion... it is another yet to be identified planet. "The Search For Gollywog" could be a real hobby of many folks in UPF space regardless of species with competing crazy theories all revolving around the idea Gollywog is not Clarion, while others try to theorize equally crazy ideas about what happened on Gollywog/Clarion to the Dralasites. Xenophobia aside some of these ideas could be fun good old fashion sci-fi... Hidden Dralasite community lives/sleeps under a major city, and some day they will attack killing all humans... or are responsible for all the missing persons in said city or up to some other naughty hostile intent. Gollywog is a planet that exists in a different dimension in the White Light System only entering this dimension every 1000 years for about 100 years before vanishing again. Dralasite star maps from that time period are fragmentary so they are looking in the wrong place for their missing colony. The Clarion Royal family are not human but aliens in disguise (Dralasites, aliens that killed the Dralasites, alien/human hybrid) as humans so they could enslave the human colonists. So the alien threat is still real. Just a few ideas...  for people to debate after one too many Clarion Lichen Ales. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 1, 2016 - 4:02pm |
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
4125 CE OTC: 8,942.38550 PF: Ships with Sect of the Hand and Golden Imperial family civilian loyalists flee known Human Space to an unknown location, it is rumored that some of the passengers may in fact have been missing Imperial Family members, illegitimate children of the Imperial lines and so on. (House) Some of these fleeing ships refugees became the first human settlers on Gollywog AKA Clarion. (House) 60 PF: White Light system discovered by Humans. (Zebulon’s Guide to Frontier Space) Pretty much game time for SF starts in the 60FY forward, or if starting latter 111FY: So 8942 + 60 = 9002 years 8942+111=9053 years So for my time line purposes once the original colonist rag tag fleet wandered around for 100 or maybe 200 years they make it to Clarion, once there their tech level degerated and went backwards and they had only recovered up to system only travel by 60 PF when other humans find Clarion. Ideas For royal Families: Leotus I (Leads the colonists to Clarion) & has wives were: Aquaria, Scorpia, Piscica, Virgitina, Arieza, Tauratina, Geminiata,Cancaca, Sagittari, Librana. All royal family lines trace back to Leotus and his 11 wives. Ideas for names: Daughters: Leotia, Luna, Tera, Jova, Plutana, Mercuria, Vena, Marta, Nepta, Urana, Sons: Saturnus, Virgus, Virgus Librus Leotus II & Capricornia Leotus III Leotus IV Leotus V Leotus VI Leotus VII Leotus VIII Leotus IX Leotus X Leotus XI Leotus XII Leotus XIII Leotus XIV Leotus XV Leotus XVI Leotus XVII Leotus XVIII Leotus XIX (Current King)
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 May 19, 2016 - 8:24am | Yeah, it's not for me, Clarion comes off as a monarchy like Great Britain though the monarch seems to command more authority that the British monarch. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 19, 2016 - 11:13am | I get that British Vibe too from the module. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
May 19, 2016 - 6:09pm | While I wouldn't want a theocracy for Clarion I wouldn't mind a "high church" being the religion of the Royal Family and based on Clarion. Something that feels like Lutheran in practice. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 19, 2016 - 8:20pm | I am kicking ideas around on how to do it, I figure with the time they have had to develop their society on Clarion they probably have variations on the theme for sure and the Royal House probably has a specific religious branch... it might be that the sub-sect changes with dynasties as to which denomination is "in". I decided to call their holy book: Lux, or the Book of Lux. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
